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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The Daily Dress: Dior Velvet Floral

Oh my. Isn't this bodice just perfection? This is a 1950s Christian Dior in printed velvet, which is something you don't see everyday! I just adore the pink tones with the black; it's a surprisingly lovely effect.

I came across it because I was looking for pleated dresses to inspire us for tomorrow's Stitch-Along post. And yes, it does have a pleated skirt that falls in soft folds.

But it's the print that won my heart. It reminded me instantly of the dress Joan wore in the Mad Men episode where she hosts a dinner party (who can forget Joanie playing the accordion?!).

Sigh. So lovely. I believe the floral on Joan's dress is appliqued on, rather than printed, as with the Dior above.

Okay, so this post became more about pink and black floral dresses than pleats, didn't it? No matter. We must take inspiration when it comes!

Update: The Dior dress is surprisingly similar to this Vintage Vogue reissue pattern. A match made in sewing heaven!

I saw that Dior dress when the Chicago History Museum had a Chicago socialite clothing exhibit a couple years ago. I fell in love with it and found a similarly-printed twill that I've been sitting on, waiting to find just the right pattern. I have the Vogue one, but it's just not right. One day...

Oh, my Gertie, you are SO right - that dress is positively stunning! I hear that Vogue reissue calling my name! The bodice style if gorgeous, and pleats are one of my favorite design details. Indeed a match made in sewing heaven!

I'm an old 'sewist', too current a descriptive for me, who's just discovered your blog. Got a new computer, lost all my old favorites, searching them out, I found yours. Yah! Anyway, looked back at your past posts, read the one about brain cells lost to retro foundation garments. It wasn't mine that were lost, but my then-fiance's (married 42 years and counting)

I just added this Dior dress to my Inspiration notebook on Evernote. It's amazing how many of my 'inspiration' notes start with 'Gerties New Blog...". Thank you for searching out and posting all these great dresses!

The latest Threads magazine has a great article about Balenciaga. It also give some of his tips for staying the inside of garments. One of tips would be perfect for this dress. The picture on Pattern Review shows the actual dress looking a little droopy in the shoulders.